Stylos is the blog of Jeff Riddle, a Reformed Baptist Pastor in North Garden, Virginia. The title "Stylos" is the Greek word for pillar. In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul urges his readers to consider "how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar (stylos) and ground of the truth."

This little booklet is the best short treatment I have found on the importance of the traditional original language texts in choosing an English Bible translation. You can get cheap copies from Chapel Library. I have given many away in 2011.

2. W. Gary Crampton, From Paedobaptism to Credobaptism: A Critique of the Westminster Standards on the Subjects of Baptism (RBAP, 2010): 126 pp.

This is a solid defense of believer’s baptism written by a former paedobaptist. Great book to share with our Presbyterian friends.

Owen was my “Puritan of the Year” for 2011. This extended meditation on Romans 8:6 (“For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”) is devotional gold. As with much of Owen, it must be read slowly and not all at once.

A stimulating anthology of articles on the importance of psalm singing in Scripturally regulated worship.

6. John Murray, Romans, Vol. I (Eerdmans, 1959): 408 pp.

Murray has been my companion over the last several years as I have preached through Romans. I completed Volume I in 2011 and will be working on Volume II in 2012. Murray writes in devotional prose, expounding and exploring the heights and depths of this greatest of Paul’s epistles.

7. D. C. Parker, Codex Sinaiticus: The Story of the World’s Oldest Bible (The British Library/Hendricksen, 2010): 195 pp.

D. C. Parker is perhaps the world’s most influential academic text critic. Though I do not agree with his conclusions on NT text criticism, this book is a valuable introduction on a popular level to this very influential early codex and to its recent online version. Most interesting is Parker’s demythologizing of the legends surrounding Tichendorf’s discovery of this ancient manuscript at St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mt. Sinai.

8. John Owen, The True Nature of a Gospel Church and Its Government, in Volume 16 of The Works of John Owen (Banner of Truth, 1968 reprint): pp. 1-208.

This book has shaped my convictions on ecclesiology more than anything I have ever read, beyond Scripture. I re-read it this year after first reading it in 2009. Look for more from me on this book in 2012.

9. John Bunyan, The Jerusalem Sinner Saved: Good News for the Vilest of Men (Reiner Pub., 1968): 112 pp.

A lesser known Bunyan classic. The “Jerusalem Sinner” is the chief and worst of sinners, but God delights in saving such men to show the better his glory. A humbling work.

I read this book in honor of the beginning of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War (aka, The War Between the States) in 2011 (1861-1865). Who could not be stirred by the piety of Jackson?

Text and Translation of Scripture: James B. Williams, Gen. Ed. From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man: A Layman’s Guide to How We Got Our Bible (Ambassador-Emerald International, 1998); Leland Ryken, The Legacy of the King James Bible: Celebrating 400 Years of the Most Influential English Translation (Crossway, 2011); Robert B. Stewart, Ed. The Reliability of the New Testament: Bart D. Ehrman and Daniel B. Wallace in Dialogue (Fortress, 2011); Gordon Clark, Logical Criticisms of Textual Criticism (Trinity Foundation, 1986); C. P. Hallihan, The Authorised Version: A Wonderful and Unfinished History (TBS, 2010);